Robert_Frazer
2007-11-29, 03:59 PM
Poor Altair - he's been through the wringer, hasn't he?
Leaping off of his lofty parapet, framed by the luscious radiance of the HDR sun and with commanding vistas of free-roaming adventure sweeping out beneath him, he fully expected to arc gracefully down to land with a scintillating splash into a warm pool of universal acclaim. Unfortunately, though, he became caught on a stunning clothesline and from then on has span madly in a tumbling plummet, hitting every last ledge, outcrop and windowsil on the way down as the critics have lambasted him at every turn.
Yes, Assassin's Creed has suffered an unremittingly bruising reception, but it probably smashed straight into the cobbled road with the lashing meted out by GamesTM (http://www.gamestm.co.uk/) (a popular British multiformat monthly which, like Edge, styles itself on providing highbrow content). Not only was the game branded with an underwhelming 4/10 score, but the reviewer, in full flow of invective, openly compared the game to that infamous abortion defecated by the hype machine, Rise of the Robots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_the_Robots).
There's only one comment that can be aired in response to that grave accusation...
OUCH. That's just not cricket! :smalleek:
The experience of the gamers proper when playing Assassin's Creed, perhaps best exemplified by Gabe's recent apology (http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/show/22310) for the game on Penny Arcade, seems to have shown some severe separation from the press's perspective. The clarity of this dichtomy is unusual, and unlike someone finding their own way in the usual grey morass of opinions, exceptions and caveats, suggests that somone must be wrong.
In light of the above, and the bickering that's already seeping out from it (http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/836/836303p1.html), I have to say that I'm slightly disconcerted by this propensity to round on and excoriate high-profile games that has been illustrated by the spreading backlash inveighing against Assassin's Creed. I am worried that it might be indicative of a malaise of poisonous cynicism that is beginning to infect both the gaming media and the gamers themselves with a stained and jaundiced view of their hobby. If reviewers extol the virtues of a hyped game, they risk the public rounding on them, burning with portentous self-righteousness, spitting at them for being mesmerised by the marketing or a shameless corporate shill, and so on. As a consequence, the fear of suffering this opprobrium pressurises reviewers into putting darker tints over their spectacles, assuming a prejudicially negative stance where any flaw can be mercilessly exploited and exaggerated so that the reviewer can prove his 'independence' with a brutalising torrent of mind-pummeling hectoring. He feels vindicated by his vindictiveness.
The hostile reaction against Assassin's Creed might be dismissed as just an isolated case. Certainly, its reception may just be evidence of honest human fatigue; after all, the latter half of this year has prominently featured quite a glut of highly-anticipated games - Halo 3, Bioshock, Mass Effect, The Orange Box et al. - and Assassin's Creed could just be a tragic victim of unfortunate timing, having arrived at the bitter ***-end of this long series of salutary reviews and gushing praise at a time when the reviewers have simply run out of adjectives (although that's all probably small comfort to Ubisoft). Yet there are indications that the negativist pallor is casting its enervating shadow over the remainder of the industry - just look at the runaway success of the Zero Punctuation (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation) webcasts. Yahtzee laces his reviews with sneering disdain and sharpens his words with envenomed barbs of scorn; he is an altogether Grumpy Old Git (TM)... and yet we love him!
I remain to be convinced that this emerging tendency for gamers to huddle in corners sucking lemons is at all beneficial for the medium - something that's supposed to bring pleasure is now being approached with trepidation. Then again, we do have pretensions of gaming being an art form nowadays, and if there's one thing that artists are good at, it's angst... :smallannoyed:
Leaping off of his lofty parapet, framed by the luscious radiance of the HDR sun and with commanding vistas of free-roaming adventure sweeping out beneath him, he fully expected to arc gracefully down to land with a scintillating splash into a warm pool of universal acclaim. Unfortunately, though, he became caught on a stunning clothesline and from then on has span madly in a tumbling plummet, hitting every last ledge, outcrop and windowsil on the way down as the critics have lambasted him at every turn.
Yes, Assassin's Creed has suffered an unremittingly bruising reception, but it probably smashed straight into the cobbled road with the lashing meted out by GamesTM (http://www.gamestm.co.uk/) (a popular British multiformat monthly which, like Edge, styles itself on providing highbrow content). Not only was the game branded with an underwhelming 4/10 score, but the reviewer, in full flow of invective, openly compared the game to that infamous abortion defecated by the hype machine, Rise of the Robots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_the_Robots).
There's only one comment that can be aired in response to that grave accusation...
OUCH. That's just not cricket! :smalleek:
The experience of the gamers proper when playing Assassin's Creed, perhaps best exemplified by Gabe's recent apology (http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/show/22310) for the game on Penny Arcade, seems to have shown some severe separation from the press's perspective. The clarity of this dichtomy is unusual, and unlike someone finding their own way in the usual grey morass of opinions, exceptions and caveats, suggests that somone must be wrong.
In light of the above, and the bickering that's already seeping out from it (http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/836/836303p1.html), I have to say that I'm slightly disconcerted by this propensity to round on and excoriate high-profile games that has been illustrated by the spreading backlash inveighing against Assassin's Creed. I am worried that it might be indicative of a malaise of poisonous cynicism that is beginning to infect both the gaming media and the gamers themselves with a stained and jaundiced view of their hobby. If reviewers extol the virtues of a hyped game, they risk the public rounding on them, burning with portentous self-righteousness, spitting at them for being mesmerised by the marketing or a shameless corporate shill, and so on. As a consequence, the fear of suffering this opprobrium pressurises reviewers into putting darker tints over their spectacles, assuming a prejudicially negative stance where any flaw can be mercilessly exploited and exaggerated so that the reviewer can prove his 'independence' with a brutalising torrent of mind-pummeling hectoring. He feels vindicated by his vindictiveness.
The hostile reaction against Assassin's Creed might be dismissed as just an isolated case. Certainly, its reception may just be evidence of honest human fatigue; after all, the latter half of this year has prominently featured quite a glut of highly-anticipated games - Halo 3, Bioshock, Mass Effect, The Orange Box et al. - and Assassin's Creed could just be a tragic victim of unfortunate timing, having arrived at the bitter ***-end of this long series of salutary reviews and gushing praise at a time when the reviewers have simply run out of adjectives (although that's all probably small comfort to Ubisoft). Yet there are indications that the negativist pallor is casting its enervating shadow over the remainder of the industry - just look at the runaway success of the Zero Punctuation (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation) webcasts. Yahtzee laces his reviews with sneering disdain and sharpens his words with envenomed barbs of scorn; he is an altogether Grumpy Old Git (TM)... and yet we love him!
I remain to be convinced that this emerging tendency for gamers to huddle in corners sucking lemons is at all beneficial for the medium - something that's supposed to bring pleasure is now being approached with trepidation. Then again, we do have pretensions of gaming being an art form nowadays, and if there's one thing that artists are good at, it's angst... :smallannoyed: